Gaia Galiberti

Gaia is a JIF Rotation PhD student working on a collaborative project between the Webster group at the John Innes Centre and the Talbot group at The Sainsbury Laboratory.

Her research focuses on the assembly of higher-order septin structures in the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae.

M. oryzae is one of the most destructive plant pathogens globally, responsible for the loss of rice crops sufficient to feed over 60 million people annually. In addition to rice, it infects more than 50 other grass species, including barley, finger millet, and wheat.

Septins are conserved GTPases found in all eukaryotes except plants. In M. oryzae, they orchestrate cytoskeletal and membrane dynamics that are critical during plant infection. By assembling into hetero-oligomeric complexes and higher-order structures, such as rods, discs, and rings, septins regulate key cellular processes, including polarity, secretion, cytokinesis, and endocytosis.

Gaia’s PhD research investigates the molecular mechanisms governing septin assembly within the appressorium and during cell-to-cell movement, respectively essential for fungal invasion and disease progression. Recent advances in high-resolution electron microscopy (EM) have transformed our ability to study dynamic molecular assemblies. She will use these technologies, complemented by biochemical and biophysical techniques, to determine the structural organisation of septin complexes, and to investigate their regulation and activity.